Presence In West Africa Research Articles

Russia Resurgent? Untangling the Role and Meaning of Moscow’s Proxies in West Africa and the Sahel

Growing international concern over Russia’s military and political resurgence in Africa and the possibility of creating a renewed Cold War has been rekindled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the outbreak of war in Europe in February 2022. Russia’s growing influence in Africa through the re-establishment of old ties and the creation of new ones has been perceived as a quest to re-establish the geopolitical gains that the Soviet Union achieved before its collapse in 1989. Increasing demand for Russian weaponry and equipment, support for unpopular, illegitimate, or unconstitutionally elected leaders, and the targeting and interest in mining concessions and natural resources are considered by the West to be a threat to democratic gains and stability in an already fragile continent. Several questions arise as a result of the deepfake propaganda around occurrences on the continent. How has Russia’s resurgence or reemergence manifested on the African continent? What instruments does Russia utilise to exert its influence in Africa? What are the potential opportunities and threats of Russian presence in West Africa and the Sahel? And how will other global actors be affected? This debate article seeks to examine a particular aspect of Russia’s resurgence on the African continent, namely, the presence of Russian proxies in West Africa and the Sahel. It examines the multiple dynamics created by their presence, the potential threats that their proliferation and activities generate in an already fragile sub-region, and how such activities, if unconstrained, can impose other potential dangers on the continent and the globe.

Reduced transmission of Mycobacterium africanum compared to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in urban West Africa

ObjectiveUnderstanding transmission dynamics is useful for tuberculosis (TB) control. A population-based molecular epidemiological study was conducted to determine TB transmission in Ghana. MethodsMycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates obtained from prospectively sampled pulmonary TB patients between July 2012 and December 2015 were characterized using spoligotyping and standard 15-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing for transmission studies. ResultsOut of 2309 MTBC isolates, 1082 (46.9%) unique cases were identified, with 1227 (53.1%) isolates belonging to one of 276 clusters. The recent TB transmission rate was estimated to be 41.2%. Whereas TB strains of lineage 4 belonging to M. tuberculosis showed a high recent transmission rate (44.9%), reduced recent transmission rates were found for lineages of Mycobacterium africanum (lineage 5, 31.8%; lineage 6, 24.7%). ConclusionsThe study findings indicate high recent TB transmission, suggesting the occurrence of unsuspected outbreaks in Ghana. The observed reduced transmission rate of M. africanum suggests other factor(s) (host/environmental) may be responsible for its continuous presence in West Africa.

Beyond the entomological critique: re-thinking Rouch and African cinema

Having worked in West Africa for over 60 years, Jean Rouch has long been a contentious figure in African film circles. Though his collaborative and participatory methods aimed to challenge the colonial and postcolonial status quo, they did so from within the very structures and systems of support that secured the French presence in West Africa. Taking the prickly relationship between Rouch and Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène as a starting point, this essay argues that, while understandable and instructive in many respects, the distance maintained between Rouch and post-independence African filmmakers has done a disservice to Rouch’s collaborators hailing from West Africa, effectively effacing them from both French and African film histories. Given that African cinema is in a moment of profound transformation, the author contends that the time is ripe to open up a new kind of dialogue between Rouch and his African contemporaries.

Regional level risk factors associated with the occurrence of African swine fever in West and East Africa

BackgroundAfrican swine fever (ASF) causes severe socio-economic impacts due to high mortality and trade restrictions. Many risk factors of ASF have been identified at farm level. However, understanding the risk factors, especially wild suid hosts, determining ASF transmission at regional level remains limited.MethodsBased on ASF outbreak data in domestic pigs during 2006–2014, we here tested, separately for West and East Africa, which risk factors were linked to ASF presence at a regional level, using generalized linear mixed models.ResultsOur results show that ASF infections in the preceding year was an important predictor for ASF presence in both West and East Africa. Both pig density and human density were positively associated with ASF presence in West Africa. In East Africa, ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs were also correlated with higher percentages of areas occupied by giant forest hogs and by high-tick-risk areas.ConclusionsOur results suggest that regional ASF risk in East Africa and in West Africa were associated with different sets of risk factors. Regional ASF risk in West Africa mainly followed the domestic cycle, whereas the sylvatic cycle may influence regional ASF risk in East Africa. With these findings, we contribute to the better understanding of the risk factors of ASF occurrence at regional scales that may aid the implementation of effective control measures.

La migration régionale et entrepreneuriale des Libanais de Dakar, Abidjan et Ouagadougou

A contrario de l’analyse communautariste concernant la présence libanaise en Afrique de l’Ouest, nous proposons une grille de lecture qui prend en compte la mobilité régionale des Libanais en fonction des conditions sociopolitiques et des opportunités économiques. Sur la base d’une recherche doctorale en anthropologie sociale menée à Dakar, Abidjan et Ouagadougou, nous postulons l’existence de deux types de migrations régionales - l’une axée sur l’initiative personnelle, et l’autre sur l’initiative d’entreprises qui recrutent leurs cadres en fonction de leur appartenance nationale. Cette perception amène à réinterroger les concepts de « diaspora » et de middleman minorities classiquement mobilisés à propos de la présence libanaise en Afrique de l’Ouest mais entretenant des zones d’ombres, notamment autour de l’extraterritorialité des « communautés » et de leur mobilisation stratégique des nationalités africaines.

The Drug Targets and Antiviral Molecules for Treatment of Ebola Virus Infection.

Ebola virus (EBOV) is a highly pathogenic virus causing severe hemorrhagic fever with a high case fatality rate of 50% - 90% in humans. Without an approved vaccine or treatments, Ebola outbreak management has been limited to palliative care and barrier methods to prevent transmission. These approaches, however, have yet to end the 2014 outbreak of Ebola after its prolonged presence in West Africa. As with the increase of outbreaks, a significant effort has been made to develop promising countermeasures for the prevention and treatment of Ebola virus infection. In this review, development of therapeutics and potential inhibitors for Ebola virus infection will be discussed.

Beyond the Saharan Cloak: Uncovering Jewish Identity from Southern Morocco and throughout the Sahara

From the end of the medieval period into the early modern era, regional anti-Semitic violence in Northwest Africa forced Jews to convert and/or flee into other lands. A legacy of imposed invisibility, through illegality of Judaism and fear of expressing a Jewish faith identity, was a consequence of intolerance towards Jews. For their own safety, Jewish persons had to conceal their faith identity. In doing so, what appears to be a lack of Jewish presence may simply be a strategic concealment of one’s interior faith conviction. This paper explores how Western institutional oversight, by organizations and scholars, continually perpetuates the impression of Jewish absence from these spaces. Further, the paper seeks to challenge a visible lack of Jewish presence in West Africa by analyzing the complexity of conversion and investigating seemingly “invisible” identities. Lastly, the paper examines how the efforts of Jewish persons to become undetectable have contributed to the historical elisions of Jewish presence in West Africa.

Vodún, Globalization, and the Creative Layering of Belief in Southern Bénin

This article examines the ways in which beliefs and forms of secret religious knowledge are (re)formed and mobilized creatively by Béninois practitioners ofVodún, who participate actively in Bénin’s changing religious landscape. This expansion, encouraged by contemporary trends in globalization and transnationalism such as spiritual tourism, modernity, and an increased Evangelical Christian presence in West Africa, has propelled belief into local and transnational discourse. While persuasive arguments have been made against the use of the term ‘belief’ to describe African religion, in this article I show howVodún’sincreased presence on the global stage and strategies employed by local practitioners to frameVodúnas transnational has once again made belief in African religion an important and meaningful point of critical analysis.

Reversion of advanced Ebola virus disease in nonhuman primates with ZMapp.

Without an approved vaccine or treatment, Ebola outbreak management has been limited to palliative care and barrier methods to prevent transmission. These approaches, however, have yet to end the 2014 outbreak of Ebola after its prolonged presence in West Africa. Here we show that a combination of monoclonal antibodies (ZMapp™), optimized from two previous antibody cocktails, is able to rescue 100% of rhesus macaques when treatment is initiated up to 5 days post-challenge. High fever, viremia, and abnormalities in blood count and chemistry were evident in many animals before ZMapp™ intervention. Advanced disease, as indicated by elevated liver enzymes, mucosal hemorrhages and generalized petechia could be reversed, leading to full recovery. ELISA and neutralizing antibody assays indicate that ZMapp™ is cross-reactive with the Guinean variant of Ebola. ZMapp™ currently exceeds all previous descriptions of efficacy with other therapeutics, and results warrant further development of this cocktail for clinical use.

Nigeria, the British Presence in West Africa and International Law in the 19th Century

Nigeria, the British Presence in West Africa and International Law in the 19th Century

A long-term experimental study of the Saharan dust presence in West Africa

The size distribution characteristics of the Saharan dust that is transported and deposited over many countries in the West African atmospheric environment (5°N) during the months of November to March, known locally as the Harmattan, have been determined over a 9-year period between 1996 and 2005, using a location in central Ghana (6° 40′N, 1° 34′W) as the reference geographical point. The particle size distributions and concentrations are discussed. Within the particle size range measured, the average inter-annual mass concentrations during the winter months ranged from 140 μg m − 3 to 1200 μg m − 3 while the average number concentrations varied between 24 cm − 3 and 63 cm − 3 . The measured particle concentrations outside the winter period were consistently less than 10 cm − 3 . The ground-based particle measuring equipment used did not provide for distinguishing the smoke fraction (due to bush fires and biomass burning) from the Saharan dust. These values therefore correspond to the total dust loads. The size range covered by the particle counter was 0.5 μm–25 μm. In spite of the strong daily and inter-annual variations in particle concentration, the overall dust mean particle diameter over the 9-year period was found to be 1.5 μm. The particle size distributions exhibited the typical distribution pattern for atmospheric aerosols with a coarse mode diameter situated at about 3.5 μm. The control exerted on the dust incursions and the particle concentrations by both the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are highlighted. The experimental results reported in this study will be of value in validating satellite based observations and simulation models of the African dust plume during winter.

Les girafes du Niger, dernières girafes d’Afrique de l’Ouest

The giraffes of Niger are the last West African giraffes. This last remaining population, reduced to less than 100 individuals, is found in the Koure area and the northern part of the Dallol Bosso, one hundred kilometres East of Niamey. These giraffes live peacefully with humans and cattle, in a non-protected area, without predators. They are threatened by the clearing of their habitat and by poaching. Over the course of the year 1996, more than 30 % of the individuals disappeared, largely due to the numerous captures ordered by the government of Niger. At the end of 1996, a land use management project based on the giraffes’ conservation was implemented in their living area. This project made possible the protection and reconstitution of the giraffe population. The balanced sex-ratio and significant birth-rate gives the present population a very good grounding for expansion provided that adequate protection and valorization policies are maintained. Heightened public awareness of the population in general and the political leaders of Niger in particular, is also an important factor. The expansion of this population will be possible only within the framework of an economic development program based on the conservation and valorization of natural resources, on the one hand, and on the management of these resources by local rural communities on the other hand. This article introduces the history of the giraffes’ presence in West Africa and the recent demographic evolution of the population of giraffes in Niger.

Peter Thonning's Map of Danish Guinea and its Use in Colonial Administration and Atlantic Diplomacy, 1801–1890

The cartographic record of Denmark's one-hundred and-eighty-year colonial adventure on the Guinea Coast is completely dominated by more than a dozen manuscript versions and copies of a single map of the Danish African enclave sent in to the central colonial administration from Africa in 1802. This unusually rich and large-scale map was compiled by a natural historian named Peter Thonning, who had no prior experience with making maps and no connection to Danish cartographic institutions. Thonning's career carried him into the colonial administration in Copenhagen, and he deployed his map repeatedly, over the course of decades, in support of his efforts to persuade the government to expand the Danish colonial presence in West Africa. The map can be traced through the Danish archives into the hands of kings, ministers, diplomats, and colonial officers on the ground in Africa. Upon the death of King Frederik VI, Denmark abandoned its African colonial ambitions: Peter Thonning's map was finally laid before the British government, and the Danish colonial possessions in Africa passed under British rule in 1850.

Adjustment to West African realities: the Lebanese in Senegal

Opening ParagraphThe century-old Lebanese presence in West Africa has been the subject of mixed reaction from the host societies. While many Africans, including political leaders, have defended this presence in the belief that it has been very beneficial for their countries, others have strongly criticised it, arguing that the Lebanese have blocked the way to Africans in trade, repatriated their capital and used many kinds of malpractices in their trading activities. In Senegal, which is the subject of this article, French small and medium traders opposed the presence of the Lebanese during the colonial period because the latter became their main competitors. The groundnut trade was the country's main economic activity and there was a great demand for this product in Europe. The major European companies were keen to increase exports and, in this, they relied on the Lebanese who, in the first decades of this century, acted as middlemen.

Significance of Middle Tertiary Large Foraminifera Common to West Africa and Caribbean: ABSTRACT

The criteria used for the identification of species and genera of Cenozoic large benthic Foraminifera strongly affect interpretations of their geographic distribution. Some researchers contend that migration of large forams between west Africa and the Americas became impossible after the middle Eocene because of increased distance and of ecologic barriers. Thus, the discovery of the Eocene genus Linderina in west Africa led them to conclude that the cosmopolitan Tertiary genus Lepidocyclina evolved from Linderina in the Old World, whereas it evolved separately from Eulinderina in the Americas. We find it difficult to accept these conclusions, especially in view of the number of Tertiary species of Lepidocyclina and Miogypsina which are common to the Mediterranean area, Af ica, and the Americas. The discovery of additional large foraminiferal species common to west Africa and the Americas supports our view that many species of Oligocene and Miocene large Foraminifera had much greater paleobiogeographic distribution than has been generally realized. Carbonate buildups dominated by floods of Heterostegina have been widely reported from the upper Oligocene and lower Miocene of the Caribbean-Gulf of Mexico region. We have recently discovered much of the large foraminiferal fauna of these so-called Het reefs in the upper Oligocene and lower Miocene of Cameroon (west Africa). Included are such typical Caribbean species as Leipdocyclina canellei. The species of Miogypsinoides present in the sequence may represent an evolutionary trend different from those in other parts of the world. They appear to be most closely related to the Caribbean species Miogypsina panamensis. In addition, we have found Operculinoides cojimarensis in the upper Miocene of Gabon. This species occurs abundantly from middle Miocene to lower Pliocene rocks in the Caribbean area and represents the end of the nummulitid evolutionary lineage in that region. Its presence in west Africa is further indication that communication persisted between west Africa and the Caribbean at least as late as the late Miocene. Moreover, a surprisingly large number of species of smaller benthic Foraminifera is common between west Africa and the Caribbean. The literature records an apparent scarcity of species of large Foraminifera common to both the New and Old Worlds. This apparent scarcity suggests that the parameters used to identify these species are not appropriate and should be reviewed. End_of_Article - Last_Page 525------------

A quantitative analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with special reference to mortality.

It is well known that during the eighteenth century and most of the nineteenth century the problem of mortality limited the European presence in West Africa. Disease and death in appalling proportions plagued whites who settled along the coast. Phrases such as ‘the white man's grave’ popularized theories concerning survival in West Africa that were based mainly on race. The belief that black people by virtue of their race would fare better than whites in Africa affected certain historical events. Hence religious groups began to train blacks in the Caribbean for missionary work and then sent them to Africa, while other groups such as the American Colonization Society encouraged black people to emigrate back to Africa. The present study is a quantitative examination of the black population that emigrated to Liberia through the American Colonization Society from 1820 to 1843. Particular attention is given to their mortality experience.Although a total of 4,571 emigrants arrived in Liberia during the 1820 to 1843 period, by the year 1843 only 1,819 emigrants were still living in the settlements. The overwhelming reason for the Liberian population decline, despite constant additions throughout the period, was a high death rate after arrival in Liberia. By examining the various characteristics of the population such as age, sex, place of origin, place of arrival and the like, a clearer picture of mortality in West Africa emerges. A picture which seems to have little relationship to race per se, but rather to the ways in which disease environments in isolated areas affect incoming populations.